


we deserve to know light

by trykynyx



Series: a dare, a rage, an intolerable tenderness [2]
Category: Black Sails
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-10
Updated: 2017-03-10
Packaged: 2018-10-02 09:53:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10215125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trykynyx/pseuds/trykynyx
Summary: “Mother,” she finally brings herself to say when they are folding linens late into the night, “Am I pretty?”





	

**Author's Note:**

> content warnings: colorism, slavery mentions

It is a silly thing to worry about, but Madi is very young, and silly things are still within her reach, not condemned to the kind of work the other slave children on the Guthrie estate are.

She looks at her mother’s skin, its lighter color remarked upon with a tone of admiration by freeman and slave alike, can’t help but notice Eleanor and Mrs. Guthrie with their skin lit from within as if by a pink light.

“Mother,” she finally brings herself to say when they are folding linens late into the night, “Am I pretty?”

Her mother flicks her eyes towards her daughter’s face, mouth less stern than it will be when they leave Nassau forever (but this is hindsight), but still indicating her impatience for trivialities. Perhaps it is the soft light from the low-burning candles, or the late hour, but her eyes are sweet that night. 

“You look like your father,” she says simply, “and I can think of no person I find more handsome.”

They do not speak again before settling into the room Mr. Guthrie gave the Scott family to sleep in, but Madi goes to sleep feeling as if she is the one lit from within by a light soft and sweet.


End file.
